Stage Fright (Guest Post)

Guest Poster: Dylan Black

A common problem for actors and performers of all kinds, stage fright can be a very real concern.  In some of the worst cases, it can lead to you freezing up on the stage, forgetting lines, or even breaking down. While stage fright can be a difficult thing to deal with, there are ways of treating it in order to help practice and ensure that nothing major goes wrong during performance.

A typical way of dealing with stage fright can also begin as one of the hardest: repeated exposure. By practicing your lines, movements, and performance ahead of time you can have an easier time recalling what you're supposed to be doing. For those who still have a hard time dealing with an audience during performance, a good method of practicing would be to ask some of your friends to come watch your performance, so that you have a test audience. Since performing in front of friends is typically easier than performing for strangers, this should help you get some good practice in. It may take ten, twenty, or even thirty times practicing before you feel confident enough to go before a foreign audience, but it's often different for each person.

For those with particularly heavy social anxiety, another solution is medication. If the medication is prescribed by a doctor, anti-anxiety meds can be very effective in treating stage fright and social anxiety. Medication can help calm down the nerves, although a dependence on such drugs can also have its appropriate side effects. Of course, this option should be done only with a doctor's approval, and could be dangerous otherwise.

If neither of the above work for you, there's always a more recreational approach to calming yourself down before a performance. While some of us have had to study up until minutes before a test at some point, sometimes the best option is to simply relax before you have to perform. Before performing, take some time to rest, and relax. Some simple methods of relaxing are drinking tea, gathering your thoughts, lighting incense candles, or even taking a short nap. Giving your mind a period of rest before application can help keep you focused on the task ahead.

While many people deal with stage fright, it's understandable that different people will find what works best for them in dealing with it. Since stage fright is a very real concern, it should be treated as such, and hopefully one of the three methods listed here works for you. If you take away anything, at least keep in mind that stage fright is common from time to time, and that others are usually more than happy to help you overcome it.

**Dylan Black also maintains his own blog, discussing the topic of The Progression of Video Games Over Time. I (Dalton) have in turn shared some of my experience with the topic of video game progression on Dylan's blog. Also, I wish to further emphasize the importance of discussing the use of medication with your doctor before practicing such methods. Medication can have many positive and negative effects, and those most be weighed carefully both by yourself and by a professional.**